updated 01:00 pm EST, Fri November 30, 2007

Motorola's Zander Resigns

Motorola today revealed that Ed Zander is leaving his position as chief executive of the company as of the start of 2008. The executive is leaving the electronics producer after four years to move on to the "next phase" of his life and spend more time with his family, he says. Zander will be replaced by the newly elected chief Greg Brown, who previously headed up four different businesses at the company before assuming the top spot. The outgoing Zander will remain as chairman until an annual shareholder meeting in May.

The shuffling of positions comes as Motorola continues to struggle against other cellphone manufacturers, which has resulted in the company turning a $138 million loss in the most recent financial quarter due in part to the launch of high-profile phones, some of which have not necessarily translated into a direct profit for the company. The company sold about 50 percent fewer of its RAZR2 phones than Apple's iPhone in the same period despite a wider release and a more significant cellphone heritage.

Zander is best known for helming Motorola during the launch of the original RAZR clamshell phone in 2004 and at least temporarily turning around the company's fortunes with a series of far more stylized phones than the company had produced in the past. The recent downturn is often credited to the abundance of fashion phones in the market that have dulled the impact of Motorola's newer releases.

MOT must innovate

Ed Zander inherited a very troubled Motorola, and lest us forget he reinvigorated communications and opened doors for innovation. Several new products were introduced in all Motorola businesses, and the company remains at the forefront of 2-way radios in almost all markets as well as DVRs. The company beat Apple to market with the ROKR and several other products. Unfortunately, not enough emphasis was placed on growing revenues from these innovations, and discussion devolved to talking about cell phone market share - a not-too-interesting topic. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com